The mood at Lazio's home ground was decidedly gloomy this past Saturday. The home side was losing against Torino, a side that had let in a total of 10 goals while scoring only two in their last five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their most recent demonstration in a continuous dispute with president Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Coming Unstitched?
Had their campaign coming unstitched, or had there never been a binding element keeping it intact in the first place? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri to lead the team in the summer transfer window, but then he publicly stated that the board had not mentioned the transfer ban they were set to be hit with for fiscal problems. Rumours that his departure was imminent were without basis, but he did say that Lotito had "misled" him.
Lazio appeared equally disorganized on the pitch as they were off it, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in the rest of their first five games, featuring the derby della Capitale. Throughout this period, it has been hard to tell if progress is being made or self-destructing.
Cancellieri's Unexpected Comeback
One individual kept smiling throughout. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to be at Lazio during this campaign. He completed the previous campaign at Parma as a loanee and, early this summer, his owning club were advocating for him to remain there for another season. The transfer ban forced a rethink. The club couldn't risk to reduce their roster lacking backup options.
He signed in the first place during Sarri's previous tenure, then a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 matches in the league in Lazio colors in the 2022-23 season, all but one of those coming off the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed at the end of that season, would later accuse Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri was destined for stardom then never playing him."
Discovering His Best Role
Maybe Sarri was continuing to attempt to determine the exact type of the player's talent. Originally described as a flank player upon signing, Cancellieri yet was deployed for the majority of that term as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. During 63 outings on loan at Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
